They played their part to the uttermost 1
At 11am on 11 November 1918,
the guns on the Western Front fell silent after more than four years of continuous warfare. This moment became universally associated with the remembrance of those who had served and those who had died in the war.
Australia’s involvement in World War I began when Britain and
Germany went to war on 4 August 1914, and Prime Minister Joseph
Cook and Opposition Leader Andrew Fisher, pledged full
support for Britain. As in many other places, the outbreak of war was greeted in Australia with great enthusiasm. World War 1 remains the most costly conflict in terms of Australian deaths and casualties.
To commemorate the 100th anniversary of World War I’s end, this special exhibition
honours the young women and
men who lived or studied in Old Government House (OGH).
From 1862 to 1910, OGH served as both the official residence of
Queensland’s governors, and from 1911, it was the main building of the newly established University of Queensland (UQ). It was a site where many spent their halcyon days before the outbreak of the Great War forever changed it all for everyone. This exhibition features the wartime experiences
of four young people associated with OGH: two sons of former
Queensland governors, who spent their childhoods here, and two
UQ students who were among the astonishing 60 percent of UQ staff and students who enlisted for active service between 1914 and
1918.
1. Quote taken from C.E.W. Bean, ‘The Great War, 1914–1919,’
Printed by authority: Albert J. Mullett, Government Printer, Melbourne, 1919, p.2. This was a speech written by Bean, Australia’s official war correspondent at the request of the Commonwealth Peace Celebrations Committee and was to be read during the presentation of Peace souvenir medals.
In Flanders Fields
by John McCrae, 3 May1915
We Shall Keep the Faith
by Moina Michael, 8 November 1918
In Flanders fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie, In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow In Flanders fields.
Oh! you who sleep in Flanders Fields, Sleep sweet — to rise anew!
We caught the torch you threw
And holding high, we keep the Faith With All who died.
We cherish, too, the poppy red
That grows on fields where valor led;
It seems to signal to the skies That blood of heroes never dies, But lends a lustre to the red
Of the flower that blooms above the dead In Flanders Fields.
And now the Torch and Poppy Red We wear in honor of our dead.
Fear not that ye have died for naught;
We’ll teach the lesson that ye wrought In Flanders Fields.
The Red Poppy / The Emblem of Remembrance
Today, the red poppy is
universally acknowledged as
the symbol of war remembrance, yet the poignant story behind its adoption is less known.
Red is the natural colour of the
field poppy, a delicate but resilient flower. Its seeds need light to grow, and when buried in the earth, they can lay dormant for over 80 years.
Once the soil is disturbed and the seeds are exposed to light, they bloom. This germination process explains how poppies became a
feature of the deathly landscape at Flanders, Belgium.
The main theatre of war during World War I was on the Western
Front. The total devastation caused here by the endless explosions
churned up the earth and left the area almost devoid of life. However, this released poppy seeds from
their dormancy. After a long, cold winter, the weather around Ypres in Belgium was unusually warm in the spring of 1915, and poppies soon sprang into life.
Lieutenant-Colonial John McCrae, a Canadian doctor, was one observer of this poignant sight of poppies growing across the battle-scarred fields. While performing the burial service of his close friend Alexis Helmer, who had been killed on 2 May 1915, McCrae noticed how poppies had quickly grown around
the graves of those who had
died at Ypres. That afternoon, he composed the now famous poem called ‘In Flanders Fields’ while
sitting in the back of an ambulance at an Advanced Dressing Station.
In November 1918, an American academic named Moina Michael was deeply moved by McCrae’s poem, and penned a poem in
response. She vowed to wear a red poppy every day until she died as a sign of remembrance. She also began to make and sell red silk poppies which were brought to
England by a French woman, Anna Guérin. In Britain the newly formed veterans’ organisation the British Legion was seeking an emblem
that would honour the dead and help the living. The red poppy was adopted as that emblem. In 1921, the Legion ordered 9 million poppies and sold them on 11
November that year. The poppies sold out almost immediately.
Throughout the British Empire and allied countries, resolutions were passed that officially established
‘the Poppy of Flanders’ Fields as the international memorial flower to be worn on the anniversary of Armistice Day.’
We acknowledge with thanks the generous assistance with this exhibition from the following organisations:
• The Queensland Women’s Historical Association
• Army Museum South Queensland
• University of Queensland Fryer Library
• University of Queensland Archives
• State Library of Queensland
This project is proudly supported by the Queensland Government.
